Long time passed
by Tandtroll
Summary: It's been 93 years since a Hokage last ruled Konoha. Shinobi are something read about in history when a group of 'strangely' familiar teenagers make a fantastic discovery...
1. Chapter 1

Name's Minato

A/N: This comes from an idea that just so happened to pop into my head last night, so far it's kind of experimental, so please let me know what you think of it! (I'm begging, I know)

At the same time as I am writing this fic and its further chapters (if there seems to be an interest), I am working on my other story 'Assassination?', and updates will probably come slowly…

--

Name's Minato. Namikaze Minato.

Okay, okay… It's not. But I can wish, right? Though I _really_ am named Minato. My parents seem to have a fetish for the old Hokages. I mean, just look at it, I am named after the great Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato, my twin brother's named after our villages last (and best known) seventh Hokage Uzumaki Naruto, and then there's our older sister – Tsunade, named after the only female leader in the history of Konoha.

I told you they had a fetish, didn't I?

Now where was I... Oh yeah, my siblings. Okay, here's the deal; Naruto and I are twins though we are nothing alike, except when it comes to looks. We're identical, god dammit, both with blonde hair that's kinda' spiky and all over the place and blue eyes. Right, and besides that we are _nothing_ alike.

I promise.

Though we are both huge ramen-junkies (I _still_ can't manage to beat Naruto in our ramen-eating contests, I don't get how he does it, I just seem to be unable to get anything more down after my twenty-third bowl, and Naruto's record is at _twenty-seven_!). And we're kind of hyper. Or at least, that's what people keep saying.

And ever since we were _really_ small, like, since we could talk, we've both dreamed of becoming Hokage's. Especially after hearing uncle Gai's stories. _Man_, what a let-down it was when we found out that _there are no Hokage's_ anymore! You probably heard us scream. Or, you probably heard Naruto scream. I've never been as loud as him. Seriously. Anyway, we were both scarred for life when we gained the knowledge that Konoha is, since the death of the Shichidaime Hokage 93 years ago, 'integrated' with the rest of Fire country, because of the stable peace that came across our world during the reign of Shichidaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto and Godaime Kazekage (I think he's still ruling… no one's succeeded him but… ah, well, well, if it is so, he must be almost as old as uncle Gai… now that's creepy) Sabaku no Gaara.

Uhm, where was I? Hm… Right, integration, peace… blah, blah, blah. Right, because of the peace, Konohagakure, the great Hidden Village of the Leaf was… forced to become a part of the rest of the Land of Fire. And ninjas sort of… ceased to exist. There are some left in the world, I think. Like the Kazekage… _if_ he is still alive, and uncle Gai, though I'm not sure I believe him. He's totally nuts. The guy's been around since the days of the goddamned _Sandaime_, (we know that for sure, since our great grandfather was his student, or something like that) and he still gets up insanely early and does completely nuts things like five-hundred push-ups, _on every finger_, and then running ten thousand laps around the village. – Like I said; nuts. I can't imagine how he's been able to live for so long. He says it has something to do with his 'hip' and 'cool' eternal rival, and that he won't let him live longer than the 'youthful'- in this case _ancient_, Maito Gai. We know for a fact that the 'eternal rival' he refers to is the Rokudaime Hatake Kakashi. But that guy's turned into stone, there's _no way_ he can be still alive. It'll probably take another hundred years for 'uncle' to actually get that into his head.

Perhaps I should explain more about the Rokudaime as well… he was one of the greatest Hokage's in our history (okay, who am I kidding, we've only had seven, _all_ of them were great), he ruled for a period of five years, before some kind of weird jutsu-poison thingy turned him into stone when he fell asleep (I don't really know so much about this stuff, only as much as we get to learn in history class at school… and what Gai tells us, but he's pretty incoherent). The jutsu-poison thingy, anyway, was part of an attack by this organisation called 'Akatsuki'. Y'know what the funniest thing is? Today, Akatsuki is a major computer corporation.

The turned-to stone Hokage right now resides in the Konoha Museum.

Anyway, where was I _before_ all of this Hokage stuff… damn, I can't really keep my mind straight… mm… _raaaameeeeen_… Just kidding- heh, heh… Family, that's it.

Okay, perhaps I've not been _completely_ honest with you. Naruto and I kind of _are_ alike. It's funny though, our parents have consciously kept us separated (we attend different schools for example…) to keep us from becoming too dependant on each other. And we still ended up the same.

It was a _really_ funny occurrence when I was at the mall with Obito (he's my best friend, if you don't count Naruto, and he's in my class at school) and Sasuke (this boy who, coincidentally, is cousin with Obito and goes to Naruto's school and is _his_ best friend…) thought that I was Naruto (he should've figured out that I wasn't simply by the lack of orange). That was before he actually _knew_ Naruto had a brother, he had just recently started to hang out with my orange-clad copy. He spotted us, and came up to me – asking _how the hell_ I knew Obito and why I hadn't told him. I didn't understand anything, I had _no idea_ who Sasuke was (Naruto had talked about him, but I knew nothing about how he looked) and he tried to convince me that _I_ was really Naruto. It was Obito who eventually figured it out, kind of funny really, since Sasuke is considered to be something of a prodigy. Hm, perhaps this whole thing was only funny if you were there yourself…

Actually, when I think about it, it really isn't so funny. Sasuke's parents were murdered two days previously and he was in the process of being adopted by Obito's family. It can't have been easy, having to adapt to an entirely new family, okay not entirely new, but still – at the age of fifteen.

He was probably all torn up inside and there I was, looking like the only friend he had left - He had always been _the_ most popular kid at Naruto's school, hell, even ninety-nine percent of the girls at _my_ school know who he is, but when his parents died and he hit a low – his friends scattered like leaves in the wind. And he still had all those hordes of fan-girls after him.

Damn, now I just feel mean.

Back to the 'family' subject.

As you might've figured from all of my previous blabbering, we (Naruto, Tsunade and I) are the great grandchildren of the 'Second Green Beast of Konoha', Rock Lee. We've never met the man, he died before we were born, but apparently he was like a copy of uncle Gai… I'm _so_ glad our parents are nothing like that!

No matter what, my fellow prankster slash brother and I are both pretty sure we're adopted. Okay, we _know_ we're adopted. Not only does everyone else in our family act totally different from us, but they also have black hair, _all_ of them, and no one have blue eyes. And if you still need more proof, then I can tell you that we have _actually_ seen the adoption documents.

We didn't search for them, really. It was just that we thought it'd be _very_ funny if dad's 'secret' drawer in his desk that was always kept locked would sort of spray him in pink paint when he tried to open it… Unfortunately (for everyone _else_ that is), we have yet to fail when it comes to lock-picking. It's an ability that really comes in handy while playing pranks, I must say. It was in that drawer we found the papers. Apparently we were abandoned on the doorstep to an orphanage; our real parents were never found. Not that it matters much. Our parents are great. Just a _little_ bit annoying at times. It's kind of sad that they couldn't have more children of their own after Tsunade.

She's such a bitch, okay; perhaps I don't really mean that, I do love her, really. But I think her temper has somewhat been affected by her name. From what I've learned through History class (and internet… hey, I have an Akatsuki computer that I share with Naruto, it's _really_ cool! Not that we use it much, we're more outdoor-types of people) it seems that her temper is terrifyingly similar to her namesake's.

Hm… I think I am done with the introduction, now… I hope so at least. Perhaps I should have forced Naruto to do this instead. But he _did_ promise to treat me to ramen later…

--

Our story begins when Nara Ino walked into the classroom. Well, it doesn't _have_ to start there, but it felt like a good place to begin. Naruto think that I should just skip to the exciting part (which is what comes _later_), but now _I_ am the one telling the story, _he_ wanted it that way, so, Ha! Or something…

Oh, the story…

Nara Ino came into the classroom, her spiky, brown hair was actually a bit short to put in a pony-tail so strands kept falling out and into her face all the time, not that she seemed to mind. She sat down in her regular place at the back of the classroom and promptly fell asleep.

I _really _wish I was as smart as her. I mean, she _always_ gets to sleep in class, _never_ pays attention, is _way_ too lazy to study and _still_ scores maximum at _every_ single test or essay!

Our homeroom teacher, Anita-sensei, entered the classroom and I settled for a _long_, tedious wait until Obito would show up. He is _always_ late. Luckily for him he attends Konoha Academy and not Konoha Communal High (_very_ innovative name, don't you think?), there, he would have been thrown out for being so late all the time.

So now you also know the name of our school – Konoha Academy, that's right. It's the best; really, it is the same school that taught ninjas so long ago. Naruto was _so pissed_ when I was enrolled here and he got to go to KC-High.

This particular day we were going on a little field-trip. To Konoha Museum (you just _have_ to wonder what idiot came up with all these names! Everything is Konoha, Konoha, _Konoha_).

Like none of us had been _there_ before.

--

Despite having been there quite an insane amount of time, I still find the place amazing (so does Naruto). I guess our parents Hokage and shinobi obsession has been rubbing off. Both Naruto and I are almost on first-name basis with _all_ of the staff there. Even the night guard, a grumpy old man who claims to be the last heir of one of Konoha's noble families. His name is Hyuuga Hakke. He doesn't have any byuakugan though. It's weird, how such a large family can almost disappear from everything but the history-books (which almost no one actually read…) and be forgotten so soon.

The building that once served as the Hokage's home and main headquarters of all shinobi activity in Konoha was now full of old ninja stuff, all from strange scrolls to mission reports and weapons. And of course, best of all; the Rokudaime Hokage himself.

Besides the fact that he's all grey and stone'y, you could think that he was only sleeping. Which he had been, when he turned. Or at least, that's what everyone _thinks_. Okay, that's undeniably what it looks like as well. He must've had fallen asleep against a tree or something, since his position was all propped up and half-sitting. He had full jounin-ninja gear on – nothing indicating that he was the Hokage himself. Most of his facial features almost invisible, since he had always been wearing a cloth-mask to cover his lower face and a Konoha hitae-ate tilted over the famous sharingan eye. In his left hand he clutched a book, the characters on the cover impossible to decipher. I've always been betting that it's a book that reveals insane, super-cool Hokage secrets. Naruto thought so too, but since I was already betting on that, he put his money on that it was book about slugs (where he got that idea from, I have no idea. _Everyone_ knows that the Rokudaime's summons were dogs, slugs belonged to the Godaime). Ino, who walked around with her normal, lazy slouch heard me tell Obito about mine and Naruto's bet and decided to join in. Her bet was that it was a so called 'Romance' novel – a.k.a. porn.

As we stood there, I thought I heard a soft, hissing, noise. I listened more closely and realised that it came from the 'statue'. I leaned in closer. Yep, that was where the sound came from, all right.

"I think there's a mouse or something trapped down his throat and starting to choke," I said. I really believed it. Hey, what was I to think? It did kind of sound like a small rodent with asthma or something.

"What!?" Obito exclaimed and leaned in closer.

"You're right! We have to save it!" this really annoying girl called Yama screeched. Where the hell had she come from anyway? Suddenly she was just standing between me and Obito. Ino pushed her aside, muttering something sounding _a lot_ like 'troublesome', okay it _was_ 'troublesome' she said. It can't have been anything else. It's her favourite word. Ino leaned in closer to the turned-to-stone Hokage. And frowned.

"He's breathing," she stated calmly and everyone stared in amazement as the stone chest slowly rose as the wheezing was heard again.

--

A/N: Thanks for readin' :D

5


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Another chapter!

I know I said that the updates would probably be slow (they will be later, I think) but I couldn't manage to get this out of my head so… uhm…

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Enjoy :D -

* * *

Yo! Minato's back! Yes, people, that's me, in _all_ my glory.

It was an effort though; you know I had to fight Naruto to get the computer. He didn't back down until Tsunade told him that she'd have uncle Gai writing this instead.

Now _that_ would be all time weird. I mean this would have started like 'Oh, the beauty of youth shines brightly and the beautiful springtime of youth is upon us!' or something like that. And I swear, he would have found a way to write his goddamned 'Good Guy' pose. And hypnotized you all so that everyone started to do random exclamations of 'youth' and 'spring' and stuff like that, and everyone would be wearing green spandex…

Ouch! Naruto just poked me! _Really_ hard!

Oh, right. The story.

Here's the deal; we never told the staff about the breathing 'statue'. We decided to check it out ourselves in the middle of the night. As I said before, Naruto and I knew the staff, it wouldn't be much of a problem. The greatest reason for us waiting to investigate any further was that we wanted to give Naruto and Sasuke a chance to come too.

The biggest issue to get out was the Parents. Seriously, we're almost sixteen. They treat us like we're five or something.

Anyway, Naruto and I told the old people that we were sleeping at Obito and Sasuke's, the Umino cousins (aka Obito and Sasuke, or crybaby and bastard if you are to be mean…) told their parents that they were staying at our place. So far, so good.

Yama, the idiot, _also_ said that she was staying at Obito's along with me, Naruto and Sasuke. She failed to mention that Ino was coming too, and of course her parents backed out when she told them that she was staying with a bunch of guys they didn't know. So she couldn't come.

Ino just told her father (from whom she's inherited her typical 'Nara behaviour') to tell 'The Troublesome old woman' whatever he liked and that she'd probably be back by morning. Her father just shrugged and told her to stay out of the night-time open coffee shops and filling stations. Night time staff could be so troublesome. Ino rolled her eyes and left.

So there we all were, outside the gates to Konoha Museum and waiting for Hyuga-san to show up. I was _really_ hungry and couldn't wait 'til we'd get inside. Naruto and I had packed all of our stash of instant ramen. Who knew? It could be _really_ tiring to check that old stone-guy and spend the night at the museum (not that we – meaning my twin and I, hadn't done that before).

You should have seen his face! I swear, Hyuga Hakke-san's eyes almost popped out of his head! It really reminded me a lot of the first time Naruto and I broke into the museum at night. I did mention our superior lock-picking before, didn't I? In any case, the old place's security _sucks_. He was so shocked when he saw us in there that he dropped his flashlight and then had to rub his eyes over, and over, and over again. I wonder what made him most shocked, that we had managed to get in or that we were actually _interested_ in the stuff and wasn't there vandalizing.

The light on the other side of the glass-doors was turned on and we could see Hakke-san coming towards us, then he froze. – That was when we saw that face I wrote about earlier.

"What are you kids doing here?" he asked and looked at us. I swear he was checking Ino out, yuck, that's just creepy…

"We're having a sleep over! _Believe it_!" Naruto yelled and we both smiled at him. Oh perhaps I should've mentioned it earlier, there _are_ actually something different about Naruto's and my looks. We are the same height, same weight and blah, blah, blah, but (besides from Naruto being the one wearing insane amounts of orange…) Naruto also has these weird marks on his face that kind of look like whiskers. They're _really_ faint and only shows in certain lights. The creepiest thing is that they look like the one's the Shichidaime had and that just makes them _more_ alike. I wonder if they act(ed) the same too…

Hey! Perhaps Naruto is like 'the Shichidaime Reborn'! That would be _so_ cool. Hm… I wonder were I'd fit in there. Perhaps I could be the Yondaime, and we could sort of be Hokage's together, like the Shodaime and Nidaime! Or did Shodaime retire before Nidaime took the post…? Hm… Anyway, if that was the case then I'd be the one to rule first! Everyone knows that Yondaime comes _way_ before Shichidaime!

Great, I've lost the story again… Let's see.

Right!

Hakke-san sighed and let us in.

"Are you kids staying the night so I can get home or do I have to stay and lock up and such after you?" he asked. It makes me really proud, that the management of the museum consider us worthy to take on such responsibility, they know that we have stayed the night and agrees that if we are there, Hakke can take the night off.

I wonder how our old folks would react if they knew that we're sort of working like night-guards at a museum.

"We're staying!" I said with a smile and Hakke-san tossed me his keys.

"Just clean up the kitchen when you're done." Last time, we had gotten into a random Ramen-fight and forgotten to clean it up; we thought that we'd be banned from the museum _forever_. Apparently, the management thought it was funny and didn't care that much. They like that young people seem interested in old stuff, I guess.

We got into the museum and Naruto took off, challenging Sasuke that he'd never be able to turn on all the lights in the two lowest stories of the building before he had turned on everything in the two higher ones. Naruto took off towards the stairs and Sasuke gave a 'Hn' before he walked around the front desk and pushed the main switch.

Naruto came down the stairs muttering about 'cheating bastards'. Ino took the lead (back) up the stairs to the room that still served as the Hokage's office, sort of. Naruto and I shot longing looks towards the kitchen as we left ground floor and Sasuke and Obito threw angry glares at each other. They have both always been unable to stand the other. Sasuke's all his life been really snobbish about his 'ancient Uchiha family' (an attitude he no doubt inherited from his father…) while Obito is more like his Uchiha mother, who never cared much about bloodlines and the importance of families. Those opinions was what had separated the siblings (meaning Obito's mom and Sasuke's dad) and Sasuke, or Obito, whatever, neither of them, met the other more than like… twice, or something before Sasuke's parents got killed and he was forced to move in with Obito.

You're probably wondering who killed off poor little Sasuke's family (and don't go all fan-girlish on me now), and this is a _big_ shocker… It was…

A furby!

I promise! Those things are evil!

Okay, okay, no one knows who did it. Happy now? Though Obito's older brother (he's like twenty-five and lives on the other side of Konoha) was a suspect for a while.

We gathered around the stone figure who sat leaned against a wall. It had those kinds of thick, red ropes on golden poles (you know what I mean, right?) around it. We took those away and leaned in closer.

Sasuke's only reaction to the breathing – that was actually more noticeable now (or perhaps it was because I knew it was breathing already), his reaction was a slight narrowing of his eyes. Naruto's way of handling the not-so-much-since-we-had-told-him-already surprise was _a lot_ funnier. It was like something in the lines of:

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!! UNCLE GAI WAS RIGHT! UNCLE GAI WAS RIGHT IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEE!!" all while running around the room. And people call _me_ hyper? Just look at the blonde idiot.

IDIOT?? WHO IS THE IDIOT HERE REALLY? STOP BUGGING ME AND WRITE THE STORY!!

Okey… random Naruto strikes again… And he doesn't understand this thing called 'Caps Lock' either. I did tell you we were _nothing_ alike, right?.

Or perhaps the Caps Lock thing has to do with school… those kids at KC-high doesn't have any kind of computer-science until next year.

Besides, Naruto just ate a whole bag of candy; he gets like that when he's on sugar. Okay, I'm like that on sugar too… Any kinds of soda and candy were _strictly_ banned from the house when we were younger. It was the best when the old ladies next door thought that our parents were mean and gave us _loads_ of candy and then we were up all night running around like crazy.

Back to the Hokage's office:

Ino was flipping through some book, Naruto and I had settled for eating un-cooked instant ramen (it's good, really!) Sasuke had pulled out his iPod (I want one of those too! My mp3's all small with a black-and-white display… and it can only hold like fifty songs). Obito sat next to the stone-y Hokage.

When we'd been here the first time he'd said that there was something familiar about the guy. I said 'yeah, you recognize him from our history books and the monument, duh!' and he had just ignored me. He also had this strange habit of constantly rubbing his left eye when we were in the museum.

"Uhm.." Obito's voice broke the silence that actually hadn't been so silent since we'd been chewing on dry ramen but anyway. "Doesn't his clothes start to look kind of… blue?"

I walked up to the guy on the floor and leaned over him a bit. Obito was right. A dark, navy blue was slowly spreading across the stone sleeves and pant-legs, the same thing was happening to the mask and hitae-ate and it all lost its stone'y-ness. Now _that_ was high on the creep-factor. I leaned in closer.

A pale skin-tone crept over the small patch of visible skin, Obito and I glanced at each other and then back at the Hokage. The single eye opened drowsily and the man yawned. Then, he seemed to freeze, not that he had moved much. I don't think he was able to yet, he was kind of part-stone still. He looked at me.

"Naruto?" he asked. Naruto? Did he know Naruto? Did he think _I_ was Naruto? "What're you doing here, aren't you supposed to be on a mission?"

"Erm… I'm not Naruto, that's Naruto," I said, pointing over my shoulder. "I'm Minato!" I smiled at him. What was I supposed to do? Run around and scream 'It's alive!' or what?

"Sensei?" the Hokage asked in confusion, I don't think his head was working properly at the moment. He sat up slowly, saw Obito, and fainted. Seriously, who'd thought that a _Hokage_ would faint? Just like that? The guy was a bloody wimp.

So we all sat around and waited for him to wake up again. Ino pointed out that the Yondaime Hokage _had_ been Hatake Kakashi's teacher, and that I kind of looked like the former, and, after waking up after more than a hundred years of being stone he was probably quite… uhm… weird.

And Uzumaki Naruto had been the Rokudaime's student. I guess I kind of looke like the former of those too. Since I look like Naruto and yeah.. you know.

While we waited, we decided to check out his book. The cover read 'Icha, Icha Tactics'. _Damn_ now I owed Ino _more_ money. She had lent me some earlier so I could go and buy ramen.

Naruto snatched the book out of Ino's hands.

"I _knew_ it was about slugs!" he yelled. It was a _major_ sweat-drop moment. All of us (except for Naruto, apparently) knew what those books was about. We had even been forced to _read_ it in school. Out loud. Since our teacher considered it to be 'one of the classics'. That woman is _such_ a pervert. The only funny about that had been when people had actually _fallen asleep_ while Ino read. She had been sounding _so_ bored while everyone else had been blushing and constantly stuttering while reading.

Anyway, the guy was _Hokage_ and walked around with a book like _that_? It made me wonder if all Hokage's had been having weird obsessions. It's known that at least Uzumaki Naruto was a ramen junkie and that Tsunade had been a gambler. Hatake Kakashi had apparently been, no wait, he apparently _was_ a pervert. Though I have to admit that I like that book… just don't tell anyone, 'kay?

Then, the Hokage woke up. He saw us, and fainted. _Again_. What the hell was wrong with the guy?

--

A/N: Thanks for reading, let me know what you think…

:D


	3. Suna Interlude

Long time passed: Suna Interlude 1

A/N: Haha, I _did_ say that I couldn't get this story out of my head, for the moment, didn't I? In any case, that's the truth.

Thanks for encouraging reviews (and thanks to those of you who's shown interest by putting this on you alert subscription), at least now I know that people want me to continue.

--

Godaime Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara smirked to himself as he made _the_ biggest decision this month. He would enrol in high school. His ever-so-brilliant excuse was that he should 'get to know the people better'. Perhaps he needed to do that as well, Gaara still didn't go out much. But to tell the truth, he was bored. Everything ran smoothly and Suna was prospering like never before.

But still.

There was no Akatsuki to fight (and he had been unable to ban Akatsuki computers from the village, thanks to new laws and stupid councils), no sound and weird Snake Sannins. Hell, there were not even treaties to sign! And there was no annoying Kankuro around, being beaten up by either Temari when she came visiting from Konoha or his own wife. Who, ironically, had become one of Temari's closest friends.

Besides the boredom, he was tired. And he felt old. He had seen his siblings age, crumble and die. He had seen _Naruto_ do the same. Damn, he had even seen Temari's _children_ die of old age!

He would never have believed that he would tire of the days where he would _not_ be hated by villagers who feared him, where he would do his paperwork like a good little Kazekage and then keep training.

He had been wrong though. It was so… monotonous. And most of all, he was tired of the people working in the Kazekage tower and feared him because he looked so young. Those who thought him to actually _act_ like and _be_ a teenager were even worse.

Since he didn't really walk around the village in robes and proclaimed to everyone who he was, most didn't know _exactly_ how their leader looked. Gaara did not want to see fear and hatred in their eyes again.

- He suspected that he would if they ever found out that he'd been living this long without growing old. As long as they considered him to be a good leader and wanted him to keep the post, he would be content.

The Kazekage suspected that he was suffering the side-effects of Chiyo-baa-sama's jutsu. Unfortunately, there were no documents or ways of researching the matter, the old woman had taken everything with her to the grave.

According to the medics, he was as young and healthy as any other sixteen-year-old in the world. Ok, perhaps a bit healthier, considering that he _did_ have the physique required for still being on top. He was really healthy, if you didn't count the insomnia. He still couldn't sleep, despite the fact that Shukaku had been gone for so long. It was as if he didn't know how. He pretended to sleep, though. To not frighten anyone any more.

At first, when Shukaku had gone, he had felt like all of his power had gone with him. He had barely been able to move his sand, except for in very small amounts. After years of practice, though, he suspected that, despite having way less chakra than before, he was even stronger than he'd been with the demon in his body. Amazing, isn't it – the wonders of greater chakra-control. And his sand was as protective as ever. Though it didn't want to lash out and kill everything around any more. _That_ was great improvement.

After more than a hundred years of peace, Gaara suspected that he would be unable to lead his 'forces' if it ever came to war. Though he would probably be best suited for it. He was the only one in Suna who had _any_ experience when it came to that.

The Shinobi forces of The Village Hidden Among Sand were reduced to a small, symbolic organisation – upholding tradition more than anything else. None of them reached higher than a low chuunin status. At least the situation was better than in Konoha. They didn't even have anyone carrying the _title_ of Hokage anymore. Gaara still wondered what had happened to Konohamaru. Naruto's appointed successor.

He looked at the documents of enrolment. There was one empty box there. Parent or Guardians signature. On the outside, he showed no reaction. Inside his head; a chibi Naruto pulled his hair, ran in circles and wailed in despair. Then an idea hit. His small smirk returned when he marked the box with the Kazekage seal.

--

The Kazekage was in a strangely good mood when one of his 'chuunin' (he honestly didn't know what the people doing those tedious office-tasks were called anymore) entered the office after a light knock on the door.

It was that new girl… A- Ai… No, he couldn't remember her name. He had been having way too many of these random people working for him since the new laws of the Land of Wind was put into action and shinobi was almost entirely nonexistent. It had been _so_ much easier in the 'good old days'.

"Good morning, Kazekage-sama," the girl said with a small, but respectful, bow. The woman he referred to as 'girl' was actually in her mid-twenties, and therefore looked older than he did. It irked him. For a brief moment he considered that he should only hire children in the future so that he could feel all old and powerful. He quickly tossed the idea aside. Kids were annoying. And besides, it _was_ illegal.

"I just came to inform you that the staff meeting starts in half-an-hour," she said with a sweet smile. Gaara's eye twitched. She was babying him. He had done this shit for _more than a hundred_ years! You could think that he should _know_ to check his schedule by now.

And he was starting school today. _No way _he was going to a stupid staff meeting. He hoped that he'd earn at least some respect from kids (not really) his own age.

--

When he first entered the classroom everyone stared at him. Just great. They thought he was weird. Perhaps he was, wearing clothes that had gone 'old' and 'out of fashion' nearly hundred years ago. He was wearing pretty much the same outfit he'd worn that fateful day so many years ago when Deidara had showed up above the village. Only that brownish-red was exchanged for black. The black rings around his eyes probably didn't do anything to lower the weirdness factor.

Perhaps he should have done more research before coming here… He crossed his arms. The teacher introduced him as 'Nara Gaara', it sounded pretty lame, but it had been necessary for him to use another name and Temari's 'new' family name had popped into mind.

He saw a group of kids near the back who was dressed a little bit in the same style (ok, perhaps not 'style', but at least clothes looking like they came from the same _century_ as his did). That was where the only vacant seat was. One of them waved to him. That group was ignored by all the others. Great. He would be stuck with the weirdoes and social outcasts. He had just wanted to be _normal_ for once.

At least their reactions was better than those he'd received when he had been sent too school as an attempt when he was five. That had been more in the lines of 'Aaaaah, its coming! Its _coming_! Run for your lives!' and then more wailing.

So he counted this as a good start and sat down in the back. There was a boy who looked strangely like Kankuro without the make-up sitting next to him, talking loudly to the others. Gaara was pretty much ignored. Not that he minded much. This was great variety from his usual, bickering staff. At first he mostly understood what they were talking about (the Kankuro look-a-like was told to shut up by the teacher several times) then the subject moved onto computers and games and the Kazekage was completely lost. Perhaps it was a good thing that there was computer-science on the schedule…

The first subject of the day was domestic economics. This was _soo_ boring. Seriously, Gaara looked over the economics of the entire _Suna_ on a regular basis. He knew this shit. Between Economy-class and History he got his new books.

First Economy and now History, couldn't they move on to things he _didn't_ know?

The Kankuro look-a-like informed him that they were currently working on the war between Suna allied with Oto against Konoha. Gaara sighed on the inside. Well, well, at least he'd get high grades.

It was wrong. _All_ wrong. The teacher stood in front of the whiteboard, sometimes writing things down but mostly talking. And the words coming out of his mouth were _lies_. Konoha was painted out as the enemy, and he mentioned nothing about the betrayal of Sound nor the murder of the Yondaime Kazekage. And Gaara was spoken of as a hero.

He had done _nothing_ good back then. He constantly killed of his own and been completely insane. And here a _teacher_ spoke about him as if he was the greatest saint in the world. And said that _Naruto_ of all people was evil.

What the hell was going on with the school system? Were they consciously _trying_ to force lies upon kids and through that grow strife against Konoha? Gaara would have to take up this matter with the council, later.

He raised his hand.

It was ignored by the teacher.

He cleared his throat.

The young, female History-teacher looked at him with a raised eyebrow. That look terrified most students in the class. Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow in return.

"Did you want anything?" the teacher asked. If this had been like a hundred-and-fifty years or so back, she would have been squashed by sand because of that statement and her tone of voice. Luckily for her, this was not back then.

"It's wrong," he said, some girls in the front row looked back at him sceptically, who was a sixteen-year-old high-school student to question a teacher?

"What is wrong?" she snarled. Gaara _really_ felt like crushing her in a sand coffin. The sand and dust that _always_ found its way in _everywhere_ in Suna stirred on the floor and where it had gathered in corners.

"What you're telling. It's inaccurate." That comment made her eyes narrow behind steel-framed glasses.

"I assure you it is not, you can look it up in your book if you want." Gaara's second eyebrow joined the first.

"So because of the fact that some old man has tried to change the outlook on our history _through a book,_ I should let you tell lies and blacken the name of one of the greatest men and shinobi who has ever lived? And raise an insane _monster_ to the level of a hero?" He didn't consider himself a monster; it had been a long time since he'd done _that_. But he remembered what he had once been and the kanji for 'love' was still etched into his forehead.

A disturbed murmur was rising from the students around him.

"Are you saying that our _Great_ Leader is a _monster_?" she asked, a vein was pulsing threatening in her forehead.

"I am saying that he _was_ and that Uzumaki Naruto was the one to save him and the future of this village," Gaara snapped

"And you know this _how_?"

"I was there." His voice was calm as he rose from the chair and walked toward the door.

"I you leave this classroom I will have you expelled! Then what will you do?" the teacher asked. Gaara froze mid-step. She really was stupid.

"What will you do then?" she repeated. "Without grades you won't get into further education and you will _never_ get a job!" He turned towards her. Apparently, she was completely clueless.

"And what is telling you that I don't already _have_ a job? Or that _you,_" he said the word with a hint of distaste. "Have the authority to expel _me_? Perhaps _I_ should _fire_ you, and if you still won't see reason… Perhaps I would ban you from the Land of Wind altogether?" She looked at him in confusion, and a hint of fear. Ha, she thought he was mad. "I will be back for computer-science, at least," the Kazekage stated. "And you can expect a reformation in teaching. At least when comes to history." Gaara left the room leaving stunned students and a shocked teacher behind.

One of the girls in the front row, wearing an insane amount of make-up and clothes _very_ accurate to this month's latest trends, apparently had a mother working at the Kazekage tower as a receptionist.

"I think," she breathed, "That _that_ was Kazekage-sama himself."

--

A/N: Yet again; thanks for reading!

And _now_ I'll work on my other story. ;D

4


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Another chapter!!

Thanks SO much for all the wonderful reviews!!

* * *

Hi! This is Naruto speaking… writing…

Anyway, I'm not writing this chapter. Kakashi-sensei-sama-san-_whatever_ is. But he's _late_.

So I figured I could write a bit while waiting. So, uhm… Now we wait…

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This is BORING!

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You know this computer is really nice. It's an Akatsuki. It's all black with a few red details on it and it's a laptop and on the back of the screen there's this little red cloud with a white edge around it. That's the Akatsuki logo.

Our computer is the 'Itachi' model. I really wanted the Tobi one 'cause it's nice. The latest one is called 'Kyuubi'. I don't like it. It makes my skin crawl. And I can't tell you more 'cause then I will reveal 'Important parts of the plot' as Minato calls it and if I do he says he'll have uncle Gai write the whole thing.

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I guess we'll just keep waiting…

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There's someone at the door! I'll be right back!

Nop! It wasn't him.

Anyway, by writing this I'll prove to Minato that I _do_ know something about computers. Ha!

Okay I know that you probably think that Minato and I are totally different and stuff from what he wrote before (I haven't actually red it, but still…) but seriously? We're kind of alike. Though he doesn't like orange. Or, I'm sure that, on the inside, he loves it, he just won't admit it 'cause he wants to be different. He's my best friend. He beats even Sasuke, 'because you know Sasuke is mostly kind of boring and serious and Minato likes the same stuff I do, like ramen. But there _are_ some other things that are different about us. Like that Minato's fast. And I don't just mean _fast_, I mean _really_ fast. And not just when it comes to running.

One time, when mom and dad wouldn't let us out 'til we'd cleaned our rooms, first he protested like me and we were really mad because we'd miss the movie (the one about princess Fuun, I'm sure you've seen it, it's a classic). Then he said he could do mine too when it was like ten minutes until we wouldn't be let in anymore and he ran up the stairs. I walked after him and when I got up it was _all done_! I asked him how he did it but he was all like "It's a secret!" and "If I tell you it wouldn't be a secret anymore!" I was going to be mad at him but then we had to hurry to the cinema and I sort of forgot.

And sometimes, Minato scares me. Not scare like I'm becoming afraid of him but… You know…

Sometimes, he has these spooky nightmares, and when he wakes up, he _cries_. Those are the only times I can remember that I have _ever _seen him cry. And then he's _really_ afraid and keeps promising over and over again that he won't ever leave me again. It's kind of weird, 'cause as far as I know he's never left me in the first place…

And sometimes, he just stares at me, with this strange expression on his face.

…

…

…

…

The reason why not Minato (or I) is(/am) writing this chapter is that none of us really understood what was going on. I mean, the Hokage woke up, then he fainted. Then he woke up again, and fainted _again_, and woke up, and fainted, and… Yeah, you get the picture. Anyway, when he _finally_ woke up and _stayed_ awake he sort of ran away and we didn't know what to do and then he came back. We still don't know what he did when he went missing, so we decided that he should write this.

He's (_finally_) here! So, yeah… Bye!

* * *

Yo! Hatake Kakashi here… You should know that the brats are making me write this. I didn't know where to start, so they told me to introduce myself. 

If you didn't see it, that was the introduction.

Okay, here it goes.

I woke up and saw Naruto looking down at me, spiky, yellow hair, blue eyes and all.

I was a bit confused.

You see; I fell asleep against a tree at training ground eleven, and then I woke up in my office. What was even more confusing was that Naruto was there, he had been away on a long-term 'diplomatic' mission to Suna (visiting Gaara would be a more accurate description). Then he told me his name was Minato. Then I realized that he didn't have Naruto's whisker-marks.

He looked young, perhaps a little bit younger than when he (could he really be Minato?) became my sensei when I was five. But I didn't really think too much about that. Actually, all I could think was something in the lines of '_Sensei?_' I wasn't really too concerned, it _could_ always bee that Naruto was home early and had decided to play a prank.

My mind felt kind of foggy and it was hard to form coherent thoughts. When I felt some of the strange stiffness leave my body I sat up.

And saw Obito. I remember thinking that, maybe, I was dead. Then, my brain seemed to have some sort of overload and simply shut down. Quite embarrassing, really. I probably looked even more ridiculous than Naruto did when he found out who his father had been. But what was I to do? I had just seen two of the three _dead_ people I, to the extent it was possible, went to the memorial for _every_ single morning (and had been doing so for the bigger part of my life). And every time I came back from missions _and_ before I left.

It was frightening.

When I eventually became somewhat aware of my surroundings again I freaked. Perhaps I _was _dead, or perhaps I was going mad. I would not have been the first shinobi to suffer such a fate. I ran out of the building where I had worked (as far as I knew…) for the last five years.

I noticed none of the changes, nor the new constructions that had appeared. Neither did I notice the sign reading 'Konoha Historical Museum' outside the Hokage tower as I hurried down familiar streets. At the moment I had no determined destination in mind.

Though my feet carried me down the streets towards the memorial stone. I never looked up, even once, to see _seven_ faces carved into the mountain. Though, had someone told me, even then, I would not have been surprised to find out that Naruto had become our Shichidaime Hokage. He had already been in training and preparation to become my successor when I… fell asleep.

I never noticed that something was off until bright light hit my face. Light? It was dark outside and there was no lights put up around the memorial. There never had been.

I lifted my gaze for the first time. My uncovered eye met a sight that made the blood freeze in my veins.

The memorial was gone. Vanished. Replaced by a huge, pale green _apartment complex_. I frantically searched my memory to find out if there even _were_ apartments like this in Konoha.

That was when I started to see the other changes. There were multiple buildings reaching _higher_ than the Hokage tower all around, the streets had been asphalted and were oddly worn. And the air _smelled_. It was a choking, disturbing smell of exhaust fumes. Something I had only felt in the Land of Snow before.

I walked around Konoha, taking in the new sights, I felt kind of empty. And everything felt _wrong_. I looked up at the Hokage monuments, and saw Naruto's face.

That was when it started to dawn upon me; I had not only slept for a day. I had slept for what seemed like many, many, years.

Now I am surprised that I didn't freak out completely, or faint, or started to scream (that would have been _very_ dignifying for a Hokage, hmm?). When I had figured out that much, I decided to find someone who could tell me what year it was. It proved to be a task harder than one would think. The Konoha I remembered was mostly consistent of friendly people (though a bit narrow-minded at times…) and _definitely_ not people who disregarded each other openly.

Now though, things seemed to have changed. The people I approached turned and walked the other way, not at all wanting to meet a stranger in the night (ok, that I could understand...). But no one seemed to recognize my hitae-ate and the signs identifying me as a shinobi of Konoha. The villagers I remembered would not have turned and hurried away if approached by a jounin.

Though I suppose that Konoha could hardly be called a village anymore, it was closer to the size of a town.

I was almost run over by a car. It looked like nothing I had ever seen before; it held barely any likeness to those I had seen before. It was sleek, red, and shiny. The noise was excruciating for ears used to pick up the smallest sound in any environment, and the exhaust left me choking.

I still didn't freak out. I guess it comes from having been around Naruto so much. You just can't seem to be too surprised of insanely strange things. Except for seeing supposedly dead people, of course. And to my defence I have to say that it was not _any_ supposedly dead people but some of those I have seen die over, and over again in many nightmares over the years.

I saw a bunch of kids standing beneath a streetlight. _Smoking_. I had thought that smoking was habit, when it came to kids that age, limited to Shikamaru.

Obviously, I was wrong.

I walked up and greeted them. No one seemed to even acknowledge my presence. I cleared my throat.

"Excuse me," I asked, and realized that what I was about to say would sound quite insane, but what could I do? Besides, this _was_ Konoha, no matter how much it had changed. "Could you tell me what year it is?" I smiled at them.

"Who'd' you think you are? The Rokudaime?" the tallest of the boys sneered. I had to look up to look him in the eyes. 'I am the Rokudaime', I wanted to say, but it was obvious that none of them would believe me.

"Leave it, Lee," a black-haired girl said and blew out a cloud of smoke. "He's probably just one of those people who can't handle real life and dress up to pretend they're something they're not." _Dress up?_

"Or he's just mad," another girl said with a snicker. "You do realize that that costume make you look ridiculous?" she asked and blew smoke into my face. Even people _without_ a Hatake nose find that repulsing, and my sense of smell is at the level of a dog's. Of course, I began to choke and sneeze. And they _laughed_ at me. I felt an urge to just chidori their heads of. Or use the 'thousand years of pain', but I didn't. It was too clear that they didn't know who they were talking to. Nor did they know what I could do.

Stupid, civilian brats.

Another black haired girl, with breasts at a size that could almost rival Tsunade's (who would _not_ have looked?), stepped forth. For a second, I thought that I saw a glimpse of recognition in her eyes.

She was the only one in the group without a cigarette in hand.

"Look, dude," she said. "I don't know if you're on your way to some history-nerd convention or if you're and escapee from the asylum, but the year is 1783, and you _do_ look ridiculous, I get that shinobi were cool and all but not even my _brothers_ dress up like that." I made a quick count in my head. _1783_? I felt like fainting again. It had been _142_ years!

This was just… _insane_.

And _dress up_? And shinobi _were_ cool? Did they mean that there weren't any shinobi anymore? And if it had been so long, why were there not any more faces up on that mountain? No _way_ that Naruto could've lived _that_ long, no matter how good he was at doing completely impossible things. And _had_ Naruto still ruled Konoha, shinobi would _never_ have disappeared.

_Right?_

I went back to the Hokage tower. My mind was all blank and, well, I don't exactly remember getting there. But I do remember seeing the sign outside.

Konoha Historical Museum

_See the __real Rokudaime Hokage_

_Opening hours:_

_Mon-Fri 10-18_

_Weekends 11-17_

The Hokage tower; was a _museum_. They had put _me_ on exhibition in a _museum_.

So much for privacy, eh?

It made me feel old. And, if you didn't count those one-hundred and forty-two years, I'm only thirty-four. And I was literally a museum relic. That was just great…

I went back into my office through the regular entrance – a.k.a. the window, And sat down behind my desk. At least the office was _decorated_ the same as it had been… except for a huge ramen-poster on one wall (Naruto's doing, no doubt) and seven portrait photos on the wall. The kids all looked quite bored _Minato_ was nowhere to be seen, and probably some others as well. I was supposed to be _Hokage_, I cursed myself for not remembering how many they'd been in the first place.

Right now there was a girl, probably fifteen or sixteen years old (I think all of them had been) that looked eerily like Shikamaru, except for being a girl, of course, sleeping on a couch. Then there was a boy, also sleeping (okay, all three of the kids in the room were sleeping) beneath a blanket, and only a mop of black hair could be seen. And there was Obito.

I couldn't help but stare. What the _hell_ was going on?

I banged my head in the desk. Hard.

* * *

A/N: All done with thos chappie D 

Would be nice to know what you think ;P

And now I (should) write the next chapter of 'Assassination?'...


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: New chapter!!

Kind of short, but as a bonus I'm posting another mini-chapter at once! Yay!

Thanks for the reviews!

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Minato again!! Hehe, yep, I'm back!

And I just _know_ that you like my writing better than Kakashi's right? I just don't get how he does it… You know, keeping track of everything and getting into such a flow? I bet it's those dirty books. Perhaps I should start reading them more too… Or not. Mom would _freak_.

Right, story.

"Who are you, exactly," the Hokage glared at Naruto and me. We had just returned from making 'in-the-middle-of-the-night-ramen' in the kitchen at the bottom floor. We _were_ going to eat it all, but then realized that we wouldn't have any for breakfast and decided too keep a bit.

It was a bone-chilling glare. One that would have made even our dad want to run and hide. Okay, perhaps that was not such an accomplishment; our dad's a chicken, but anyway. For some reason, it felt like I _knew_ that glare. As if I had seen that exact expression on his face many, many times before. Of course, I hadn't. That would just be strange and weird and ridiculous.

But for some other, or same, reason, I also felt like he should be glaring at _Obito_ like that. Then was when it also began to feel like it made complete sense that Obito kept rubbing his left eye whenever around the 'statue' of the Hokage. What made less sense was that Obito even _had_ a left eye - I have no idea where I got _that_ idea from… It was just one of those really weird feelings you get sometimes, you know?

I felt a bit like I usually do after waking up from my nightmares. I can't ever remember what they are about, but there's always a fox in them, I think. And this big frog or toad. I like frogs, they're all jumpy and stuff, though toads are nicer… Anyway, when I wake up, I have that feeling. Oh- and in those dreams, I'm not sure of _what_ exactly I'm doing _but_ I know that I am abandoning Naruto, in some way. And that makes me feel all cold and terrified and I want him to be a hero.

Uhm… Yeah…

In any case, that was the feeling I got when I stood there before the Hokage. Then, I realized that this was _really_ cool. We were like shinobi waiting to get our mission before going out and saving the village! Or making money for the village, whatever.

Naruto stared at the Hokage too and I got the feeling that he was feeling the same feeling as I was feeling. Wow, don't you feel that there was a lot of 'feeling's right there?

Then Obito and Sasuke woke up. Ino was still asleep. I doubt that even a thousand cannons could wake her when she's sleeping. It would just be too troublesome to wake up.

None of us noticed though, we were too deeply involved in our nice little staring contest. Not that _I_ stared.

Okay, I did. Happy? It's not _everyday_ you see the Hokage coming back to life.

"Oi," we all turned to Sasuke as he spoke. "What's up with the staring contest?" He sounded a bit groggy from sleep but still managed to pull of the insane Uchiha-glare. I think all Uchihas can do that. Except for Obito, he's like all forgotten; they probably never taught him how to do it properly.

"_Sasuke?_" It was the Hokage who spoke. This whole thing was just becoming weirder and weirder. How the _hell_ did a guy who'd been _stone_ for the last hundred-plus years know who _Sasuke_ was? Perhaps it was a name that ran in the family, and it was just a good guess since all Uchihas pretty much has the same hair and eyes? Sasuke gave the Hokage the ultimate Death-glare, the one he gives the teachers when they disagree with him. Perhaps I should invent a way to steal that glare, hm… 'cause you know Sasuke's like _really_ smart and always scores max in every damn test, so he doesn't really need that glare.

Perhaps I should just steal Ino's brain instead. Or not, when I think about it; it just has to be way too troublesome to think that everything's so troublesome all the damn time.

It almost looked like the Hokage was going to faint again, especially when he spotted Obito. I'm really glad he didn't. Isn't it kind of geeky? You know for a Hokage to faint like that all the time? Though it can't have been easy to wake up like that after so many years.

The Hokage turned back to Naruto and me and sighed. Suddenly he seemed very, very old.

"Please," he seemed so tired, and it felt all wrong that a Kage would say _please_ to his own villagers. It should be more like 'Oh, please all powerful and almighty Hokage could you _please_ sacrifice yourself and save our sorry asses?' "Could you just tell me who you are?" Of course, Naruto was not one to just let an opportunity like that pass.

"Yes!" he almost yelled. I could see Sasuke flinch in the background and grinned along with my twin. "I am U- " I _know_ that he wanted to introduce himself as 'Uzumaki', but wasn't that to go a bit overbroad? "-Rock Naruto, and I am going to be Hokage one day. Believe it!" At least he _didn't_ say 'Uzumaki'…

"I am Rock Minato," I said with a smile, and of course, I couldn't let Naruto be better than me… "And I'm going to be Hokage before him!" I concluded with a broader grin all while pointing at Naruto.

"Rock as in 'Rock Lee'?" the Hokage asked in what sounded like disbelief. That was so cool! The Rokudaime knew our great great grandfather! Okay, I already knew that. "You're not _really_ related to him, are you?" the Hokage asked.

It's true, none of us has _any_ of the traits making us resemble _any_ other member of the Rock family.

"Nah, not really," Naruto said. "We're adopted!" I smacked him over the back of his head. No one else really _knew_ that and our parents had not even brought the subject up… "Ow!" At the same time as Naruto yelped Ino sat up.

"Why do you always have to be so damn troublesome?" she sighed. _See?_ Troublesome, troublesome, troublesome – she thinks _everything_'s troublesome! Then, she revealed that she hadn't really been sleeping and finished the introductions.

"That's Umino Obito, Umino-slash-Uchiha Sasuke," she pointed at the boys as she presented their names. "And I am Nara Ino."

"I figured you'd be a Nara, at least," the Hokage muttered and Naruto broke down in laughter. I laughed a bit too, but Naruto was actually rolling on the floor. I guess you can't really get what's funny if you wasn't there and saw the expressions on their faces.

"I need to know what's happened to Konoha," the Hokage said. "And why is there no shinobi?" his voice was filled with authority and I kind of got the feeling that we were all privileged to be in his presence. Then, as always, Naruto destroyed the mood.

"You mean you _don't__know_!?" I felt like saying something like 'Naruto, he's been _stone_ for the last hundred years, Duh!?' but felt that it would be kind of inconsiderate towards the guy who really _had_ been stone for the last hundred years. Sasuke spoke instead of me.

"He's not been around for a while _idiot_," the Umino-slash-Uchiha said, with yet another glare. "It's not like _you_ know much about it either. He usually sleeps during history class," the last comment was directed towards the Hokage.

"What did you _saay!?_" Naruto yelled. The Hokage sighed and looked like this wasn't the first time he'd seen those two bicker. Which, yet _again_ would have been completely impossible.

"Okay, it's like this;" Obito who now stood beside us facing the Hokage said. "When the Shichidaime died a _loong_ time ago there had been like thirty-five years of complete peace or so and the council decided along with the ruling Lord of the Land of Fire that Konoha should become a more integrated part of the country. They decided to not appoint the next Hokage, who would have been an old man already and…" I tuned out. Looked like at least _someone_ had made their history-homework. Bleh, I already knew this stuff. While Obito talked I noticed that the Hokage was more likely just staring at him than actually listening. At least _I_ was not the only one doing that. Damn, I had never known that Obito could talk for _that_ long. Eventually, he finished his 'history-speech'.

"Are there _any_ shinobi left?" the Hokage asked with another sigh. His eyelid was drooping. I don't get how he managed to be _bored_ in a situation like this. If _I_ had woken up after more than a hundred years I would've completely _freaked_ and just kept running in circles and screamed my head of. Or made sure that Ichiraku's was still there and eaten ramen until I passed out.

Naruto shrugged.

"Not many, at least," he said, at least a _bit_ serious now. "There's always uncle Gai and _maaybe _ the Kazekage-" the Hokage interrupted Naruto.

"Gai, as in _Maito_ Gai? As in the Green Beast of Konoha blah-blah-blah youth and _springtime_ Gai?" The Hokage's eye looked like it was going to pop out of its socket.

"The one and only," I sighed.

"I think," the Hokage said and looked at the clock over the door. It showed 6 a.m. had we really been here for _that_ long? "That we should go see him." The Hokage rose from his chair and walked past us to the doors. I _swear_ I could hear him mutter something like 'please Kami; _please_ say that he isn't wearing that spandex anymore'.

He wished. As if uncle _Gai_ would ever lay off the spandex. That would be like… like… I don't know… like uncle Gai stop blabbering about _youth_ and _spring_ and stopping to do all those insane 'exercises' and just sit still and quiet in a dark corner _plus_ me and Naruto starting to _hate_ ramen. Or something like that.

Shit, school starts in _two_ minutes I have to go brush my teethbye!!

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A/N: And now, continue to the next one! 

XD

3


	6. Interlude 2

"You sure this'll work?" Shichidaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto looked at his work. The seal was huge. Intricate patterns covered the sandy floor of the very same arena where Sound and Sand had initiated their invasion so many years ago.

"**Not really. But if it doesn't… we'll die trying."** The Kyuubi's voice broke through the silence of the warm summer night, the rumbling made small grits on the ground shake.

"You can't die, idiot!" Naruto grinned. It felt odd, he was about to leave everything. Yet he didn't feel so sad. Perhaps it was because most of the people he'd known the best and longest were dead. Sakura had died in her sleep only a few months back, at the age of seventy. Of course all the children were still alive, but it just didn't feel the same. And it made him feel old. Everyone else had been dead for quite a while. If you didn't count Gai. He seemed to have lost it completely when Lee died about five years back, and was now determined to stay alive until Kakashi-sensei's frozen body had turned to dust.

_Kakashi_. It was so odd; the 'statue' his old sensei had turned into after the very last Akatsuki attack had no heartbeat, no breath. But the white chakra of the Hatake clan kept pulsing. The old Hokage was now stuffed away in a small room in the attic (Naruto had not even known that there had been one) of the Hokage tower since twenty-or so years back.

Naruto had climbed up onto one of the high flagpoles sitting on top of the arena walls with an agility that would be more suited for a twenty-year old than a seventy-one year old geezer.

He looked out over Konoha. _His_ Konoha. He had been the Hokage to rule longest of them all, and had it not been for Gaara, he would have been the oldest, and longest ruling, Kage in history.

He felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of Gaara. His old friend still looked sixteen. They had figured that it was some sort of side-effect from Chiyo-baa-sama's jutsu that brought him back to life. But they had found no way to reduce the effects. Naruto kind of wondered if the Kazekage would simply drop dead when 'his time' was up, or if he would keep going forever. If the latter was the case, Naruto figured that they might meet again in the future. Perhaps. At least Gaara would remember him.

"**Oh, that's right. I guess **_**you**_** will die trying,"** the Kyuubi's amused voice broke through his thoughts. There was a hint of cold determination behind the demon's words. Whatever he might have let on, he would do _everything_ to protect the blonde Kage.

"Whatever, you ready?" Naruto grinned again.

"**As ready as I'll ever be."**

"Okay, here it goes," with that, Naruto jumped down and stepped into the outer circle. When the seal came in contact with the combined chakra of the jinchuuriki and his inhabitant, a low humming filled the air.

"**See you on the other side, brat."** The seal began to glow softly and the humming intensified.

"Bastard." Naruto stepped into the small, empty spot in the middle of the seal.

He put his hands together in a simple handseal and closed his eyes.

With a puff of smoke similar to when a kage bunshin disappears, the elderly Hokage dropped dead.

His last thought in life had been an amused one, thinking that Konohamaru would be the oldest _ever_ to receive the title of Kage.

Little did he know that he himself was the last Konoha would see of one of those for many, many years.

* * *

A/N: That's it for this time; let me know what you think!

XD


	7. Chapter 5

Yo

Yo! It's me again! I hope you know who I mean. I mean you _should_ now by now. But perhaps you don't… Anyway for those of you who just _can't_ figure it out, I'm the great Minato! Woohoo! Or something.

I'll just start where I left off… 'kay? Now where was that…

Uncle Gai, right. That's it. We were all going to see uncle Gai at six a.m. in the morning.

Now, the problem was that _finding_ uncle Gai at that time of the morning is practically impossible, he is _never_ in his apartment. I think he gets up like four-thirty or something, and then he starts with his training. I don't get it, he's an old, and I mean _old_ man (if you hadn't grasped that yet, he's like 150+) and he can still manage to get up so early and work so hard!

Mom is always worried about him; she's tried to get him to move in with us for as long as I can remember, okay, she's probably been trying to do that since long before we were all born. I think she thinks that since uncle Gai is so old he'll like drop dead any second. I don't think he will though. He's been going on like this for more than a hundred-and-fifty years, I doubt he'd just die after so long.

After we got out of the museum, the Hokage mentioned that perhaps he should arrange a meeting with the council as well. He didn't really sound like he meant it. As soon as he'd said that though, Sasuke told him not to, and said that the council members were all stuck up, arrogant asses. Which was kind of weird, 'cause that's the way everyone not in the Sasuke Fanclub usually thinks about _Sasuke_.

But I'd guess he knows more about the council than any of us, not only was his father in the it before he was killed, but he also had to deal with all those old people after that. So if Sasuke says something about the council, it's probably true. Okay, most things Sasuke says about people are usually true, and he usually doesn't say that much about others, y'know? Honestly? He doesn't say that much about anything. He's more of the annoying dark, brooding, stuck up ass-type. I just can't get what girls like about that so much.

Anyway, the point is that if _the_ Umino-slash-Uchiha Sasuke thinks that someone's like that, you should probably take your imagined picture of a person like that and exaggerate it like ten thousand times. 'Cause I doubt that Sasuke'd actually notice if someone was as stuck up and arrogant as himself. Or he perhaps he would, and then he'd call them wannabe's and ignore them extra-much which would immediately make pretty much everyone else do the same, so they'd be annoying, arrogant and stuck up and ignored and nobody would even know their names.

If you doubt me, you should know that I got this Sasuke information from a very good source.

And I _didn't_ stalk him.

Nuh-uh. I asked Naruto. And you should know that Naruto probably is the one that knows him the best. At least I think that everyone who knows them would say that. And I don't count any member of any club remotely associated with the Sasuke Fanclub as people who 'knows' them.

So we walked down the streets towards the apartment complex where uncle Gai lives, we figured it'd be a place as good as any to start looking. It's kind of far from the museum so we had a pretty long walk ahead of us.

Though you should know that if I'd been able to go as fast as I _can_ go I'd been there in like less than a second. It's really cool really and you can't tell anyone about this 'cause it's a secret, okay?

I don't even know how I do it. I should probably tell you that I can do 'it' in different ways as well. One is pretty much like teleporting short distances, sort of, but you're still running, and you probably don't understand my useless way of explanation but I'll keep trying anyway.

So, this first way is the easiest, I just kind of jumps/runs really fast and it's really cool because it goes so fast that no one can even _see_ you when you go.

Then the other way is a bit harder. And it's even _faster_. I promise!

To do it, I kind of need something to focus on, or else I'll be unable to stop. Or turn. It doesn't even matter if there's something in the way, I'll just pass it, like _wooosh_!!

So far I haven't been able to do it so good, but if I _know_ the place where I'm going, like if it's home or uncle Gai's apartment, and where it is in reference to where I am, I can just… sort of _go_ there, but I'm still running. Sort of. And then I'm kind of tired, but it doesn't matter 'cause it's _really_ cool!

And I should probably mention that Naruto is what I've found out to work best to 'focus' on so far. For some reason, I always know where he is. It's creepy. I wonder if he can do the same.

At least I know I shouldn't let anyone know about this stuff. People would probably think I'm some kind of freak and have me locked up. I have been thinking about showing uncle Gai though, since he's shinobi and I think ninjas could do weird stuff, but I haven't really gotten to it.

So we walked through the streets in silence for the first ten minutes or so. I don't think anyone knew what to say. Even Naruto was quiet.

Ino had taken the lead since the rest of us were to busy staring at the Hokage. Come on, wouldn't _you_ have stared if one of your greatest idols and an old hero of your village had just pretty much had returned from the dead? Or being stone. Whatever.

Obito walked next to me and he kept rubbing his left eye so hard I started to wonder if he'd break it soon. Or push it out of its socket. Can you do that? Or is it just in cartoons? I have to ask Anita-sensei at school on Monday…

The Hokage ignored us all at first, and just looked at his own feet as he walked, but after a while he started to glance at Obito.

"You okay?" there was no bored expression in the Hokage's eye anymore and he sounded really concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Obito said. He tried to smile (I think) but it turned into a pained grimace instead, and tears threatened to spill out of his right eye – I'm not too sure about the left one, because he was still rubbing it.

"Really?" the Hokage asked, still concerned, and bent down so he could look Obito in the eye. "You look like you're in pain, and about to cry," that statement really made Obito smile. I don't really get why though. They didn't know each other well enough to have in-jokes.

"Well I _am_ the crybaby, remember?" Obito murmured, as if he was speaking to himself. I barely heard what he said and didn't really get it (okay, I get that he's a crybaby, but the _remember_ part?), but apparently the Hokage did. He froze in his tracks and Naruto, who'd been walking just behind, bumped into him.

Naruto, Sasuke and I stared at the Hokage, Obito still rubbed his eye and the Hokage glanced at him. Then he shook his head and started to walk again.

Naruto and I looked at each other and shrugged simultaneously before the rest of us followed.

Ino didn't seem to have noticed anything and was looking up at the small clouds that slowly moved across the sky that was just beginning to lighten.

She's got a cloud-fetish, I swear.

We kept on walking in silence for a while longer before the Hokage spoke.

"So, how come Sasuke returned to the village?" he asked no one in particular.

"Huh?" Naruto said in an annoying, _loud_ way. I've tried to make him teach me how to do it but he's refusing. He says that it's _his_ secret.

I think mine's cooler.

"Whaddya mean _returned_ to the village? I don't really think he _left_!" I don't think Naruto understood that the Hokage was probably talking about some _other_ Sasuke. Hey! _There_ is a difference between us. Hah! I'm _smarter_ than Naruto!

No one remembers that I thought the Hokage's breathing was a mouse with asthma, right? Damn, I just reminded you. Forget that I wrote anything.

Or don't, I want you to remember the story. Just forget the last three or four sentences.

The Hokage glanced at Naruto questioningly. Hmm… I wonder if that's even a word… _questioningly_. Sounds strange.

"Right, I didn't mean this Sasuke," he said after a moment. See? I told you it was _another_ Sasuke! As I've mentioned before, the name probably runs in the family. "How much history do you know?" the Great Rokudaime Hokage asked after a while, no one answered. "Perhaps you don't know, but the Sasuke I meant was the one that survived the Uchiha massacre and then left to kill his brother."

"Your student, right?" I had to ask. I was pretty sure it was the one he was talking about but I just had to make sure,

"That's the one. He must've returned at some point, seeing there are Uchihas here." I felt bad, for some reason it felt like I had hurt the Hokage. He didn't _look_ too sad though.

"No one's really sure," Sasuke himself put in. "It's suspected to be the work of the Shichidaime and the great Rage of Konoha, but any actual records are missing." The Rokudaime looked thoughtful for a moment.

"The great _Rage_ of Konoha?"

"Haruno Sakura," Ino spoke for the first time since we'd left the museum. "She is besides from her temper, also known for her strength and is acknowledged as the greatest healer to have ever lived."

"Sakura," the Hokage looked thoughtful again, I think. "I should've figured. She didn't 'rage' much against any others than Naruto though, did she?" the Rokudaime smiled. It took a few moments before I realized that the Naruto he spoke of was the Shichidaime Hokage Naruto and not my brother Naruto. "I hope she didn't," he added, to himself I think. I think I should stop write 'I think' now. "No one else would be thick skulled enough to survive those punches." I was surprised, and shocked maybe. He _was_ our Rokudaime Hokage, but still, he just called the probably most powerful and definitely most famous Hokage in history _thick skulled_!

But, you know, if the Shichidaime was anything like the Naruto I know then I guess it would be true.

Apparently it wasn't so hard to find uncle Gai after all. We were lucky; he hadn't started his 'ten thousand laps of youth around Konoha' yet. I don't know what he does for training all the time, but I _do_ know that he actually runs all those laps _every_ morning.

Naruto and I have proof. We followed him around, on Tsunade's motor-bike, no _way_ we'd still be alive if we'd run ourselves. We had to stop for gas like twenty times in two days. Anyway, we filmed the whole thing and we lost track of how many times he actually ran around the village (town, whatever) and then we both got motion-sickness from watching our stupid film. Eventually it turned out that he'd ran _twenty thousand point fourty-five_ laps in _two_ days! And I have to add that running wasn't _all_ he did in those days.

It was just a part of morning exercise.

So, we found him doing one-fingered push-ups on this soccer field behind the apartment complex where he lives. It's freaky, his damn hair _shone_ in the vague morning light! How do you get _white_ hair to shine anyway? Shouldn't it be, you know, too _white_ to be that shiny?

In that moment, Naruto decided to wake up the neighbourhood.

"OI! UNCLE GAI!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. And believe me, it's _loud_. When the echoes died down we could hear some lady yell at us to keep it down and there were dogs barking in the distance.

Uncle Gai just ignored it and finished his push-ups, or the ones he was doing with that particular finger anyway, which meant that he did about twenty five more. Then he jumped up and struck his good-guy pose, and his teeth glowed like in a toothpaste commercial (as always) and he yelled a greeting to Naruto. Then, he spotted the Hokage, who looked _bored_ again. And he started to cry. It wasn't too shocking, 'cause uncle Gai cries all the time. Then he walked up to the Rokudaime and poked at him, like to ensure himself that he was real. Then he poked him again.

"I can feel that, you know," the Hokage said with his eyebrow raised. Gai started to cry harder.

"My rival! You have at last returned to the realm of the living! The Springtime of Youth is truly upon us!" he saw that his 'rival' didn't really respond to what he said and continued. "Oh, it is so hip and cool of you to have lived this long and still kept your youthful appearance! But alas! You have not bested me yet when it comes to longevity, and perhaps you hide your wrinkles behind that mask of yours, to appear more youthful!? Oh, what a strike of genius! Perhaps I should do the same to appear more youthf-" His 'speech' was interrupted by the Hokage.

"Gai?" he said softly and, surprisingly since we all are usually ignored, uncle Gai became quiet.

"Yes?" Gai answered, the stream of tears had stopped for the moment.

"Shut up."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," uncle Gai answered formally before he made a bow.

"And don't call me that," the Rokudaime said and rolled his eye. He probably rolled the other one too, but I couldn't see it behind the hitae-ate.

"As you wish, my eternal rival!" our green clad uncle yelled before striking his Good-guy pose again. The Hokage just sighed.

"Alright, perhaps we should move inside, but I need you to tell me exactly what's happened during the last 142 years, _why_ there are no defences _at all_ in the entire village and _why the hell_ there are no shinobi or even a Hokage anymore." He sounded more serious than he'd done before and uncle Gai just nodded before showing his 'eternal rival' back to the apartment.

I found it kind of strange that the Hokage didn't speak more on the way since, at least according to Gai, they're old friends. But perhaps he's just not a very talkative person.

Kind of like a Sasuke without a stick up his as who's reading porn in public (now _that_ would've been a sight!), or a male Ino who weren't as lazy.

I started to wonder if uncle Gai had any ramen at home because I was getting hungry. It _had_ been like… two hours or something since I ate last.

When the two adults had walked into the apartment we heard the Hokage scream something about a 'Mr. Ukki' and we all hurried in to check what had happened. We found them in the living room and the Rokudaime was actually _hugging_ this big plant that'd been standing in Gai's apartment for _ever_. He had this big smile on his face, or, I think so at least, it's kind of hard to tell with the mask and everything, but at least his eye looked as if he smiled. Everyone stared at him and had we been in an anime we would've all sweat-dropped. Or fallen down, you know in that way so all you can see is the legs sticking up.

"O-kaaaay…" Naruto said. Sasuke, Obito and I stared at the Hokage. Ino raised her eyebrow.

I'm glad it wasn't Yama; she's terrifying when she does that.

The Hokage finally noticed us.

"What?"

Obito leaned over and whispered;

"Who would've thought the _Hokage_ of all people had a freaky plant-fetish?" I couldn't help it; I broke down laughing my head of. Not literally, but I _did_ fall to the floor. Soon Naruto and Obito did the same and I put my bike on that I actually heard Sasuke snicker.

The Hokage put the plant down and rubbed the back of his head.

There was some more meaningless talk before Gai started to tell the Hokage everything that'd happened since he… 'fell asleep'.

I walked into the kitchen to find some ramen; I'd had enough history lessons for today.

I think my brain was a bit over-loaded as well.

6


	8. Chapter 6

A/N: I am terribly sorry for the way to long delay, I had plans on updating a LOT sooner, but other things (such as tests in school and writers block) came up... /

I also apologise for the fact that the chapter isn't longer, despite the delay.

* * *

It is something… unnerving about seeing grown men cry. And I don't mean fake crying like uncle Gai does all the time (though that is disturbing as well) but _real_, sad crying.

I it gets even worse when it's a great, historic _hero_ doing it.

We all stood there, perhaps a block or two away from uncle Gai's apartment and watched the Hokage cry. It was strange, okay, most of what I've written down so far has been strange, and it will be kind of strange later on as well, but anyway, he just cried with _one _of his eyes.

Oh, of course, sorry. Tsunade just told me that perhaps I should tell you the reason _why_ he started to cry. Or, what happened before.

We had left Gai's apartment at maybe ten in the morning, heading to my and Naruto's place. We had decided to tell our parents where we'd really been and what happened and then ask if the Hokage could stay with us for a while – we do have a big guest room. We had asked the Hokage if he'd prefer to stay at uncle Gai's place or with us, since our 'uncle' had also offered to house him. He had then said that Gai would drive him nuts and besides, the small apartment is hardly large enough to house two people for a period longer than a day or two. Of course it could be done, but I think the Hokage, after sitting (as stone…) at a hard floor for more than a hundred years would prefer a real bed before Gai's too short and not very comfortable couch.

Most people had already gone off to work and there was not many people seen out in the streets. While we walked, the Hokage started to look like he'd come to think of something. After a short while he said that he'd like to try something and stopped. We all looked at him in interest, maaaybe he'd do something very cool and Hokage-ish.

He pulled out a kunai and made a small slice in his thumb – which has to be one of _the_ most stupid places to cut yourself in. I mean, you use your thumb for like _everything_, and the cut probably reopens really easy and everything you do must _hurt_. And still, the thumb or palm is the place were people (in movies and stuff, at least) cut themselves most.

Before any of us really had time to react he slammed his hand into the ground and a puff of thick, white smoke appeared. The smoke disappeared in a moment and left sat a small black pug.

We just gaped. The dog narrowed its eyes at the Hokage.

"Who are you and how have you gotten a hold of this contract?" the dog snapped. I felt like screaming something in the lines of 'WAAAAAH!! IT'S TALKING! IT'S _TALKING_!'. I didn't. I would have expected the first one to talk to be Naruto or Obito, instead, it was Sasuke.

"Did that dog just _talk_?" he asked, and he sounded a bit shocked, which for Sasuke is equivalent of screaming what I just wrote above. The pug averted it's stare from the Rokudaime to Sasuke.

"_Of course_ I talk, Uchiha", the dog said in an annoyed voice. Sasuke looked even more shocked, a look that looks really stupid on his face. The dog turned back to the Hokage, who had opened his eye fully; I guess that in a normal person it matches an expression where the eyes look like they're about to pop out of their sockets. "You still haven't answered my question", the pug stated.

"Where's Pakkun?" the Hokage asked. He sounded lost. And small. It didn't match him, or his title. I realized that he so far hadn't done much very Hokage-y stuff, but he still had an air of authority that couldn't be questioned. But in that single moment, that authority wavered, and he seemed more like a scared child than anything else.

"I am Pakkun."

"No, you're not. Where's the _real_ Pakkun, my Pakkun?" the dog narrowed its eyes again.

"Are you talking about the _first_ Pakkun?" The Hokage looked confused. "I am Pakkun the third, the first Pakkun was my ancestor and the companion of the Rokudaime Hokage, the great last of the Hatakes himself." The Hokage looked faint.

"Was?" he asked with a weak voice. The pug put his head to the side.

"He died well over a hundred-and-twenty years ago", Pakkun the third provided.

I think that was when reality finally caught up with the Hokage. He _knew_ what had happened before this, of course, but this was when the consequences really hit him. His whole body started to shake and he sunk to his knees on the asphalted sidewalk. He pulled his hitae-ate off and held it in his hands. Tears streamed from his left eye, the famous sharingan, down his cheek, making his dark blue mask almost black on the left side, as he stared straight out in front if him.

Sasuke and Obito stared at his eye with something looking quite a lot like morbid fascination. They both _do _have Uchiha blood and I know that pretty much their whole lives they've both dreamed about activating sharingans of their own. Sasuke's more likely to succeed though, not only is he more 'pureblood' Uchiha than Obito, but he's also trained martial arts pretty much his whole life

The creepiest thing was that Obito's left eye cried as well. He didn't seem to notice. It cried blood.

* * *

A few hours later we left the hospital, and the very confused hospital staff, to continue back to mine and Naruto's place. Apparently _no_ one in the entire Konoha medical centre (which is the name of the hospital…) could figure out what had made Obito cry blood, anyone would guess that there was something wrong, but even the best doctors in the whole land of fire didn't get it.

And Obito had barely noticed, his eyesight was fine and it didn't hurt, the weird feeling that had made him rub his eye so much was gone for the moment. Perhaps that was what made him cry, I mean, he _had_ practically squashed his eye constantly for the last… uhm… many hours. That's weird, I mean, his eye was all fine, according to the doctors, but come on. There _had_ to be something wrong with it if he kept almost digging it out and squashing it and then cried blood.

The doctors had made Obito promise that he'd go right back home and rest for the rest of the day, since they hadn't been able to get hold of his parents (his mom was in an important meeting and his dad was on a business trip to Mist). Obito had protested, and eventually one of the nurses decided to follow him home.

When we got out of the hospital and started to walk again the Hokage returned, he'd been waiting outside, and managed to not attract too much attention. Either he hid or people just ignored the strange way he looked. Probably the latter, he didn't look like he'd been hiding, and there _is_ a mental institution for 'the psychologically challenged' – as Tsunade calls it, anyone seeing him would probably guess that there's where he came from. They probably have a whole floor reserved for uncle Gai at that place.

He seemed to have recovered a bit since the 'Pakkun' thing and was now reading his _romance_ novel again. I don't get how he managed to read and walk at the same time. I'd trip in a second. After maybe a minute or so he looked up from the book.

"Where did Obito go?" he asked. Ino explained what had happened at the hospital and the Hokage looked thoughtful, then he gave a one shouldered shrug and continued to read.

"Heeeey…" Naruto said slowly. "How could the dog know that Sasuke was an Uchiha?" We all (not Ino, she stared at the clouds) looked at the Hokage, I realized that it _was_ kind of weird that the dog knew his family name, I'm pretty sure it had never seen him before. The Hokage flipped a page.

"He _does_ look like a typical Uchiha", the Rokudaime said calmly. "But it was probably the smell."

"The _smell_?" Naruto asked and looked at Sasuke. "You _smell_?" he made a very funny face and leaned away from his friend. "Eeeeeew!"

Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

"Everyone smells, Naruto", he said and smirked.

"Exactly", the Hokage said absently. "And especially the greater clans, or, what used to be the greater clans, I guess – those with kekkai genkais, all have quite distinctive scents to them", he gave a nod towards Ino. "She is definitely Nara, Obito and Sasuke very much smells like Uchihas and that guy", he inclined his head towards a fat guy walking on the other side of the street, "Is Akimichi."

"What about us?" Naruto asked in an exited voice.

"Yeah, do we smell like we belong to any big clans?" I added. It would be _so_ cool if we were, since we never knew any of our biological family.

"No", the Hokage said and both our faces fell. Then he made our day, or maybe month. "But the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans were never any _big_." Naruto and I looked at each other and started to scream and jump and run around like crazy. Sasuke looked shocked, _again_, that _has_ to be a record, more than one time in a single day! The Hokage just smiled, or, Ino said that the Hokage just smiled. I didn't really see it; I was too busy being happy that I _smelled_ like my greatest idol. That sounds pretty weird… anyway, y'know that that might mean that we're related, right?

A short while later the four of us - Ino had decided that it was to troublesome to hang around, she probably knew that we were going to get yelled at, stopped outside the Rock family's house, the place where I, Naruto, Tsunade and our parents lived, if you hadn't figured that out yet.

We decided that no one but I and Naruto should go inside alone first, to like… slowly drop the news I guess. We didn't want our mom to freak, after all.

We didn't even have time to go up all the steps (there are like, two) to the front door before it was slammed open and Mom came running out. We later found out that Uncle Gai had already called her and in a not so sensitive way told her everything mixed with exited cries of happiness.

I can't really write down what she yelled, 'cause I don't remember it, but trust me – our Mom is _good_ at yelling. It's easy to see (or actually hear…) from where Tsunade's inherited her vocal resources

Mom's rant kept going for another five minutes or so before it stopped – that is a _very_ good thing about our mother, she has her yelling attack, then rant and then it's over, she doesn't hold a grudge and has practically never really punished us hard. And she still managed to raise us into (somewhat) normal people.

When said rant was over she immediately hurried over to the Hokage, who had just raised his eyebrow when the door burst open, and then gotten back to his book.

"I apologise, Hokage-sama, for my outburst," she said with a bow. "You are very welcome to stay in our house for as long as you like." She threw his book a disapproving look (hey! That rhymed!), and he put it away with a sheepish smile – I think that's what it was, before he thanked her. Mom confirmed that Sasuke was staying at our place for dinner and we all went inside.

We gave the Hokage a tour of the house – the living room (he seemed quite interested in our flat, widescreen TV), the kitchen where Mom was _already_ starting dinner, the downstairs bathroom (interesting, huh?) and moved up to the second floor. We simply pointed out which door led to Tsunade's and our parents' bedrooms, showed him mine and Naruto's room (yeah, we share, it's not like we _need_ separate rooms or anything, since were always together, and barely ever inside anyways), for reasons I'm pretty sure we all can understand, he refused to touch the Akatsuki computer. By now we were all pretty bored with this tour (and you probably are too…) so we simply pointed out the upstairs bathroom and the guestroom in which he'd be staying. He didn't seem too interested so we all went downstairs again and watched an old ninja-movie about the journey of a genin team destined to save the world. It is actually a pretty lame movie, but it's funny and the Hokage seemed to enjoy it.

Later, when the whole family was gathered for dinner and introductions had been made, Mom brought up the question of rent. What can I say? Our Mom is greedy. And I was _really_ ashamed, come on? Who asks the great leader and hero of the village to _pay_ to stay their house? And as it were, we were practically the only ones who knew who he was, and he'd probably be forced to pay more at any other place, if they'd even let him in – considering he always keeps his face covered. Though I suppose Uncle Gai would probably let him.

The Hokage paled a bit.

"I'm going to have to get a job, won't I?"


End file.
